I am still using Mint 11, but have downloaded Mint 12 and plan on experimenting with it in VirtualBox this weekend. I am more cautious than usual with this upgrade because of the number of changes. Frankly, I am thinking of switching to LMDE for my main desktop, as I already use it on a netbook and find it okay. For now I still use Mint 11 because I am concerned about the changes the upgrade will make.

I am wondering if others have been equally cautious with these latest changes, or if everybody has jumped straight in to try the new version, sink or swim.

Garvan

PS: If you have more than one version of Mint installed, vote for the one you use most.

Why? Because it is very stable, it works pretty well with my hardware, and has 3 years of support (LTS version). Support for Mint 9 ends at the same time as Mint 12! There is also a 1 year overlap with the next LTS version - Mint 13. Every upgrade to the latest and greatest version comes with a learning curve and sometimes a "migration"... I'd rather minimize the time I spend tinkering with the OS and maximize the time I spend using it for something productive.

In addition, for me, stability is far more important that having the latest and greatest (fashionable) software &/or features. At this point, my plan is to let the community shake the kinks out of the whole Gnome 3 thing for another 6 months or so before I give it a try in Mint 13... By that time, I am hoping everything will be as smooth as silk and rock solid stable...

I'm running LMDE Xfce, Everything just works on my machine, It's light, fast, and running cool[after a few tweaks even better]. I can set up my desktop the way I wish too.

I tried LMDE Gnome I had power management and file management problems that I couldn't overlook, after the update to Gnome 3.Also I was finding myself typing in the program name I wished to launch so as not to have to spend the time looking for it in all the icons on the desktop.[yes there is the dock but how many [huge]icons can I put on it, remember when not on the desk it's a 9in screen] Besides I usually have more than one thing going at a time on my desktop, I can understand having to switch between workspaces when using the 9in. monitor but sitting at my desk and plunged it to the large monitor it's a pain.

I'm running Mint 11. I tried Mint 12 but I'm not ready for all the work it takes to make it look right. Mint 11 has been easy to learn on and help with it readily available. People know what works on it rather than the uncertainty that comes with all the changes in 12. I don't have a cutting-edge system and I don't need a cutting-edge OS.

I've been using LMDE for about 6 months so far and it's been as solid as a rock. I'm also directly using the Testing repository with the odd package cherry picked from Sid. I've voted Gnome as it is currently my primary DE, but in reality it started off as Xfce as I was dreading the move to Gnome 3. Eventually I installed it just to test it out and it seems to work good enough for me. At the same time however, I can understand why many people don't like it. It's one of those love-hate things with me.

As a rolling release, it needs a bit of grooming every now and again and some people might not like the extra work involved in keeping it clean. The advantage of being on the bleeding edge is nice though.

I use Mint 9 Xfce as my primary operating system, for all of the reasons stated by Reorx:

Why? Because it is very stable, it works pretty well with my hardware, and has 3 years of support (LTS version). Support for Mint 9 ends at the same time as Mint 12! There is also a 1 year overlap with the next LTS version - Mint 13. Every upgrade to the latest and greatest version comes with a learning curve and sometimes a "migration"... I'd rather minimize the time I spend tinkering with the OS and maximize the time I spend using it for something productive.

The difference with me is that I am considering moving to Xubuntu 12.04, maybe after the first point release, because I like Xfce and am not sure about Gnome 3.

The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds; and the pessimist fears this is true

I use Lisa-Mate and Katya.WHY KATYA , because Katya is second attempt to me to try Linux after Natty. Her lays on my old P4 computer ( Katya need less resource than Lisa )WHY LISA , because my usb modem detected faster in Lisa than in katya ( in katya i must wait about 3 minutes to use internet)Lisa lays on my main computer ( intel dual core from 2009 )WHY MATE , because using Mate make Lisa feels like Katya

I use Mint 7 Gnome x64 because of many reasons.Mostly because it is rock solid stable and it runs on even the most modern hardware as well as very old hardware equally as well.The only wish I had was for better WiFi support.I like Grub 1 , no uuid , Gnome 2 , the fact this it is surprisingly light on system resorces , etc... etc... etc...Basically it is just exactly as I want , and I know how to do just about anything I need to do with it.I NEVER do any online banking or personal transactions etc. so I have no worries about Security.If anything happens , I can just reinstall in about an hour and am ready to go again.( I do think Mint 9 is a better choice for most laptops because of better hardware support. )

Have tried out every version since Mint 5 , also KDE & XFCE & LMDE variants hoping something better would come along.But so far nothing has... I kind of think Linux and Gnome in general is going in the wrong direction for my tastes.Everything is becoming more bloated , complicated , less stable and less configurable. I know most people wantto stay on the "Cutting Edge" of technology , but I guess I am happy just sticking to what I know and like.But hey , what do I know ? I still use Windows 98se and still play Wolfenstein and Doom II once in a while

On such an old version the repository is down, which means you can't install software as easily as you used to do when Mint 7 was still supported. And there are lots of other reasons why it's not a good idea to use an unsupported release.

Registered Linux User #528502Feel free to correct me if I'm trying to write in Spanish, French or German.

I'm just experimenting with Mint 12 on a live USB stick. I actually use Ubuntu 10.04. I'm satisfied with the concept of MGSE, but there are issues such as not being able to enlarge the fonts on the Mint Menu, and I personally prefer just a single work environment. The Mint implementation of Gnome 3 seems to have left off the ability to shut off dynamic work spaces. To be honest Mint 12 / MGSE is more of a proof of concept than something people will actually use or be satisfied with over the long term. It's really hard to see how Gnome 3 is in any way an improvement over Gnome 2. Normally you would expect more versatility, ease of use, and easy configurability. What you have is a sub par desktop with and add on makes it somewhat acceptable, but not actually as good as Gnome 2. I think if the Mint team as the time and energy to make MGSE more configurable with additional extension applets, they might eventually have something. I do appreciate the work they have put into it so far as it saves us from being in a real pickle.

None ... I detest ubuntu, have had a growing dislike for that distro since first trying buntu 10.10 ... Horrid and idiotic layout, windows controls reversed for no particular reason, grossly bloated and a resource sucking pig dog. After hearing all the great things about ubuntu ... Ubuntu is gnu/Linux, so forth and other such nonsense, it was a real let down. Since have only ever come across more and more reasons to dislike canonical.

So went with LM 10 for awhile instead and while believe they've earned the reputation as ubuntu done right. Liked it much more and ran better for me than ubuntu. LM ubuntu based obviously does inherit some of the negatives from ubuntu, odd decisions, bugs, bloat = buntu. Had everything running pretty well, after experimenting and learning how to tweak Mint. Things were fine after inflicting mass borkage upon myself and having to reinstall a couple dozen times, lol.

Though always irritated me having software that was so closely related to buntu running. Think LM is a fine distro, but for whatever reasons, my bad feelings towards canonical also extend to derivatives of ubuntu. Won't run or use anything gnu/Linux that's based on canonical's stuff. And Mint's Debian releases were just coming out and having growing pains. At the time didn't want to have to become a computer scientist to use my PC, lol. So went exploring what else is out there, fortunately there is no shortage of stuff to choose from when it comes to Linux.

Went looking around and found distro's I like more, that run better for me and suit my tastes and needs. Sounds like lmde and Mint's Debian based releases are coming along nicely. Planning on trying some of them at some point. Just like stalking the Mint forums and like the community. But will continue using the gnu/Linux I prefer in the mean time.

( feel need for clarification ) Am still a fan of LM, they seem to have something for everyone. Almost certainly have a release just about anyone would really enjoy and be made to run great for them etc. Can't be easy for them trying to please everyone, whatever they choose as a base or whatever. My dislike for buntu aside ... that's just a personal preference and outlook, shrugs.

Last edited by lmintnewb on Fri Dec 02, 2011 3:11 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Thanks to all that have voted and an extra thanks to those who have explained their current choice of mint. I see a high percentage of "Mint 11 or earlier" users have not opted to upgrade yet, so I am not alone in my caution. I am also surprised that no LXDE users responded, and in the high number of users who picked "other" when I thought I had covered all the options.